Power in Santa Ana Restored for Most

Power was restored Monday afternoon to most of the 1,000 households left without electricity after a car crash damaged power lines.

Power was returned to most residents about 2 p.m. Monday after more than 100 workers repaired a one-mile stretch of line extending along Myrtle Avenue. Edison crews were still repairing damaged transformers in other neighborhoods.

At the height of the outage, about 4,500 households were without power. Electrical power was restored quickly to most residents, but about 1,000 households were left dark for about 12 hours.

The power surge also may have damaged household electronic appliances, Southern California Edison spokesman Ray Golden said. He anticipated that the utility would receive claims for such damage.

“We will examine that on a case-by-case basis and decide if they should be compensated or not,” Golden said. The utility compensates customers in cases where Edison equipment did not react properly.

The outage at 1 a.m. Sunday was caused when a man driving an Oldsmobile Cutlass crashed into a guide wire that holds a power pole in place on North Bristol Street. The crash started a domino effect that damaged the entire distribution system in the Santa Ana neighborhood.

“For one car accident, it’s unbelievable what the damage is,” Golden said.

Southern California Edison recommends that customers install power-surge protectors to help guard against damage to their electronic equipment.

A steady stream of residents headed toward the distribution center at Jerome Park where Southern California Edison provided them with care packages consisting of coolers, packets of dry ice, flashlights and batteries.

Finding entertainment for children and keeping food from rotting seemed to be the major challenges for powerless residents.